external enclose 3.5" eSATA recommendations? (or not-recommendations)

[Andrew Hamilton]

I need to get external enclosures for two Hitachi 3.5" HDD. One is
320 GB, the other is 1 TB. I need both USB and eSATA (at 3.0, not
1.5!)

Can anyone recommend or not-recommend specific models? The case has
to be strong enough to protect the drive when carried around in a
laptop bag or in luggage.

A case that could hold both drives would be especially attractive to
me, since I would need to carry around only 1 AC adapter.

Thanks.

 

[Arno]

I need to get external enclosures for two Hitachi 3.5" HDD. One is
320 GB, the other is 1 TB. I need both USB and eSATA (at 3.0, not
1.5!)

Can anyone recommend or not-recommend specific models? The case has
to be strong enough to protect the drive when carried around in a
laptop bag or in luggage.

You basically get no protection from enclosures, as HDDs are
shock sensitive. Enclosures help to prevent scratches and
the like, but for shocks most I ever had are useless. The
only exception is the very cheap WD elements with the
silicone endcaps. Better get a neoprene or the like
bag for the HDD, that will help more than an enclosure where
the drive is basically hard mounted to the outer shell.

Arno

 

[Arno]

Most are made in China under a variety of badges. USB can be
unreliable, drive freezes during backup. I finally converted
motherboard SATA port to eSATA, faster and more reliable.
Beware the fanless versions, the drive can get uncomfortably
hot.
SATA to eSATA conversion is passive, just a connector
change, can't see why there has to be two different SATA
connectors, but one is supposed to be screened.

Personally, I believe the incompetent comitee that made
the original SATA connector was not done yet and had
to come up with something even worse, namely the eSATA
connector. IMO, these people are a digrace to the engineering
profession.

As to screening, given that the data goes over TP, no screening
is needed. One possibility is that they were desparately trying
to make the cables more expensive and less usable by making them
as stiff as possible.

Arno

 

[Mike Ruskai]

I need to get external enclosures for two Hitachi 3.5" HDD. One is
320 GB, the other is 1 TB. I need both USB and eSATA (at 3.0, not
1.5!)

Why 3 instead of 1.5? There are no SATA drives capable of saturating a
1.5Gbps link, and unless you're using a port multiplier, there's no benefit to
having excess capacity.

In any case, there are countless cases out there that support USB and eSATA. I
have one from Rosewill which looks kind of like an alien head. It has two
fans (one on each side of the drive, which forces the air to wend its way past
the PCB and go out the vent holes on the back), and requires dealing with only
two screws to change the drive.

I have a Seagate 7200.11 1.5TB drive in it right now. It transfers at around
110MB/sec when connected with eSATA, and about 24MB/sec when connected with
USB.

If you're looking for one that supports two drives, then browse the drive
enclosure section at www.newegg.com with the appropriate filters. Most
dual-drive cases want to do RAID. Make sure they say JBOD is supported, and
that it's not "JBOD = spanning", but actual JBOD (drives passed through
individually to the host).

 

[Andrew Hamilton]

Why 3 instead of 1.5? There are no SATA drives capable of saturating a
1.5Gbps link, and unless you're using a port multiplier, there's no benefit to
having excess capacity.

I' m thinking to the future in one or two drive generations, where the
SATA II speed might actually make a difference. I like to get a long
useful lifetime out of PC stuff I buy.

In any case, there are countless cases out there that support USB and eSATA. I
have one from Rosewill which looks kind of like an alien head. It has two
fans (one on each side of the drive, which forces the air to wend its way past
the PCB and go out the vent holes on the back), and requires dealing with only
two screws to change the drive.

Sounds like a good place to start.

I have a Seagate 7200.11 1.5TB drive in it right now. It transfers at around
110MB/sec when connected with eSATA, and about 24MB/sec when connected with
USB.

If you're looking for one that supports two drives, then browse the drive
enclosure section at www.newegg.com with the appropriate filters. Most
dual-drive cases want to do RAID. Make sure they say JBOD is supported, and
that it's not "JBOD = spanning", but actual JBOD (drives passed through
individually to the host).

Ah, good point, very good point.

Someone else suggested that I browse Newegg. As far as I'm concerned,
I do all my purchases at newegg. There is a Frys Electronics pretty
close to my house, but the prices at Frys are usually a bit higher
than newegg, and also the customer service at Frys is worse than
worst. "Friends don't let friends shop at Frys." Me and my friends,
we all HATE, HATE Frys, for good reason.

-AH

 

[Andrew Hamilton]

You basically get no protection from enclosures, as HDDs are
shock sensitive. Enclosures help to prevent scratches and
the like, but for shocks most I ever had are useless. The
only exception is the very cheap WD elements with the
silicone endcaps. Better get a neoprene or the like
bag for the HDD, that will help more than an enclosure where
the drive is basically hard mounted to the outer shell.

Thanks. If that the case, then I would get only one enclosure, and
just carry the other drives loose in a static-protected bubble wrap
bag.

-AH